Aldi looks to expand into West End

The no-frills German supermarket chain Aldi is waiting for approval to expand into the inner-city suburb of West End where it hopes to trade 24 hours a day.

The company lodged an application with Brisbane City Council to develop a store on the corner of Montague Road and Victoria Street in April last year, continuing its quest to draw customers away from industry heavyweights Coles and Woolworths.

The discount chain, which has more than 8000 stores world-wide, is also seeking approval to trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the West End store.

But it is unlikely the store will be allowed to operate beyond Aldi's standard trading hours of 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm on Saturday, and 8am to 6pm on Sunday.

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The supermarket has included space for 78 car parks over two levels of basement parking in the design.

The company, which is controlled by a reclusive family in Germany that tries to keep its profitability confidential, has invested almost $200 million in its Australian operations since 2011.

Yet the retailer is in the process of increasing its capital investment in Australia to more than $2.5 billion after deciding to expand from the eastern states into South Australia and Western Australia.

According to a recent Choice survey, a basket of mainly private label groceries at Aldi is on average 25 per cent cheaper than a similar basket of branded groceries sold in Woolworths and Coles.